Louise de La Vallière
Louise de La Vallière Duchess de La Vallière Duchess of Vaujours | |
|---|---|
Portrait by Pierre Mignard I | |
| Born | Françoise-Louise de La Blaume Le Blanc 6 August 1644 |
| Died | 6 June 1710 (aged 65) Paris, Kingdom of France |
| Burial place | Cemetery of the Carmelite convent in Notre-Dame-des-Champs, Paris |
| Other names | Mademoiselle de La Vallière Sœur Louise de la Miséricorde |
| Known for | Mistress of Louis XIV |
| Title | Duchess de La Vallière, Duchess of Vaujours |
| Successor | Marie Anne de Bourbon |
| Children | 4, including Marie Anne de Bourbon Louis, Count of Vermandois |
| Parent(s) | Laurent de la Blaume Le Blanc de La Vallière Marie-Françoise Le Provost de la Coutelaye |
Françoise-Louise de La Baume Le Blanc, Duchess of La Vallière and Vaujours (6 August 1644 – 6 June 1710) was a French noblewoman and the mistress of King Louis XIV of France from 1661 to 1667.
La Vallière joined the royal court in 1661 as maid-of-honour to Henrietta of England and soon became Louis XIV's mistress. Two of her four children by the King, Marie-Anne, Mademoiselle de Blois (Princess of Conti by marriage) and Louis, Count of Vermandois, survived infancy and were legitimised. She was an important participant in the court's intellectual life, interested in the arts, literature, and philosophy.
In 1666, she was replaced as mistress by Madame de Montespan, but created a suo jure duchess and invested with lands. After an illness in 1670, La Vallière turned to religion, and wrote a popular devotional book. In 1674, she entered a Carmelite convent in Paris where she died in 1710.